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It’s Lonely At the Top: For Bloggers ONLY

FOR BLOGGERS ONLY: It’s lonely at the top. A few weeks ago my best blogging buddy, Things That Inspire, signed up for Blogrankings – yet another new, cool tool to rank your blog visitors. There isn’t a dedicated Design Blog division on Blogrankings, so she signed up under the Lifestyle Blogs. Apparently all the other current Design Blogs are registered under Lifestyles too. TTI got me to sign up and for a few weeks we’ve been having a blast trying to beat each other in our rankings. You get a widget and the widget constantly updates your current ranking. The really interesting part is everyone is reset to Zero at the start of the week to level the playing field!!!

But, the problem is that there are so few design blogs signed up right now, we’re looking for competition to play with. Come on everybody – please sign up! It would be so much fun to see how many readers we all have and who is really shaking up the blogosphere on any given day. Technorati has turned out to be a real bust – they measure how your blog ranks by how many link to you and who really cares about that anyway? Besides, they have been fraught with technical problems lately. Sitemeter is good for one thing, to figure out what state your hateful anonymous’ are posting from (and even that is suspect. My address shows I’m posting from a field in the middle of Kansas!) I do love Google Analytics which has a wonderful tool to gauge your reader loyalty – but that can actually be quite depressing when you add up how many of your readers actually stay on your blog longer than a second – not many!

So, Things That Inspire and I are inviting everyone out there in the Design blogosphere to join Blogrankings and dethrone us! It’s no fun being in the Top Five when there are only five kids playing. Come on – and play with us! Join www.blogrankings.com today. And be sure to sign up under Lifestyles Blogs. Email me of TTI if you have any questions!

45 comments
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OK - just for the record - I enlisted you to sign up so I could vicariously make it to #1! The blog that was previously #1 has a lot of visitors, and I knew I couldn't even come close to her numbers. (No animosity towards that blog, just a little healthy competition).

I must admit, it is addictive! I have been experimenting with posting more this week just to see if I can change my ranking, but it tracks UNIQUE visitors, so once the usual readers visit each week, their visit is counted once and only once per week.

It is very addictive! I hope the bloglisting server doesn't crash, they were having problems last week.

i will look into this..i am trying to build traffic and get into more online consulting (because i am not earth mother enough to "sling" and "nurse" on the go..i will be home bound for a while..ok a year, after this baby is born) so anyway i am trying to up my traffic and you know what i noticed when i checked my sitemeter...a TON (ok most) of my traffic comes from here...THANK YOU Joni, you are helping this little mama!

i cant wait to go read about Eddie and Jaithan at the skirted roundtable...lovin in already!

Joni: I checked out the list and gave myself a little giggle. You're competing with hairstyles, sobriety, Sri Lankan fashion and a Japanese kid, among other random "lifestyles" blogs. They need to refine their categories a bit, I think. And you'd still be #1!! Congrats! Looks fun but I'm too new to subject myself to this... like Sarah said, "incredibly depressing". :)

I have heard about the tracking thing for checking out where people are posting from. Every time I look at my IP, I am from somewhere else. I don't think Baldwin Kansas has ever come up for me!!! So, I am not sure how great that works, either.

I have only gotten one negative post though, so it isn't much of an issue. Someone told me I used the word "pop" to much in referencing how I like to use black as an accent against light walls. I sort of wonder why people who have something negative to say even bother to take the time to say it!

Oh, P.S. if you get a chance and can link my blog, I would love to join your list. :) I always get such great ideas from you!! I need to pick your brain about my bedroom sometime. I have an idea that is either really good, or really bad.

I'm not sure where I belong-I blog about decorating, entertaining, cooking, baking, family, travel, basically whatever I feel like...Is that lifestyle?I am a bit scared to be at the bottom of the heap, although no guts, no glory!

* Uh oh!!! I r-e-a-d this, Joni, & as you know, I'm NOT a blogger... (OMG, am I on RESTRICTION or something??? Eeks!!!)~~~

I'm glad you wrote this, as it gives the NON-blogger some "interesting" info, & makes one "understand" the blogger a bit more... I was concerned~ can you help me out?

(1) Someone mentioned people only staying/visiting for a few seconds~~~ I didn't know you could gauge that! EXPLANATION so no feelings are hurt?: SOMEtimes we wake up & have rcvd, like y'all, a lonnnng E-list of what's just been written. Many run thru the list just to catch a bit & see if that PARTICULAR SUBJECT, on that particular day, is of interest to them & then come back later if it is. (It's NOTHING "PERSONAL", for sure, & most don't have UNlimited time to read EVERYTHING.)~~

#2~ If the non-blogger knows that YOU know how long we're there, I know at least "I" would feel compelled to stay longer so, once again, no feelings are hurt. (I know, I know, I "came that way", empathy-wise! It's a BEAR to live with, but... whatchagonnado?)~

(3) On the OTHER hand, for example, I love to come here to catch "the list" (w/ pics) of the latest blogs I may have missed... Soooo, I'm SOMEtimes here ALOT~~~~ Oh my dear, YOU could start charging me RENT at times, Joni-girl!!! (Smiles~ It's a bill I'd happily pay!)~

One of the things about getting "older" is that the "memory banks" are not paying as "high interest" as they once were, & RIGHT NOW I can't remember the rest of what I wanted to say (lucky you!)...

BUT I HONESTLY wish to SAY tho, that I can only IMAGINE all the time & energy that goes into producing a blog, and if one is read, I think that in itself is "A GOOD THING"!!!

I hope allllll bloggers know how much they're appreciated, whether they are read my many or few!!!

Not a Blogger, read anyway. Oh well. An explanation for the one-second Google data: I subscibe to you via google reader. I open the post in google reader, but your posts are usually both text and photo rich, so I immediately click on the headline to bring me directly to your blog site to get the full effect, backgrounds and all. The post is then marked as read in Google reader. Probably for about one second. Every time. I'm sure I'm not the only one...

ok - to ALL non bloggers who read this - you are all in BIG TROUBLE! I said BLOGGERS ONLY!!!!!hah!!!! just kidding!!!

ok - the one second click on is getting some attention - the amount of 1 second clicks is huge. According to google analytics it can be as high as 70 percent!!! so to all the readers who are worried they are causing that - first, don't worry, it doesn't matter how many 1 second clicks we get - it just is another stat that's all. #2 - readers aren't casuing those numbers, it's people who click on by mistake probably #3 - we have no idea who clicks on our blogs! there is no way to find out who is clicking on our blogs, so don't worry- you can click on and off all day long and we would never know!!!

Thank you all for the support!!! tonight the giveaway is over and i"ll announce the winner at midnight?????? if i'm up???

Ok - I signed up and thought it might be better than google analytics as you mentioned. It is disappointing sometimes to review my analytics account and sometimes I can't make much sense of it. At least blogrankings is simple and straight forward....I think.

Well my blog isn't totally devoted to design but it is devoted to wabi-sabi, sublime, art, fashion, design, music, and zen. You and your viewer might enjoy it... I loOOoooOOooOoooove your blog by the way... It's so inspirational to me...

OK, this budget decorator signed up & I see a couple of my cohorts over there already too. We budget girls gotta stick together too. So, I'm not showing up over there yet, but I loaded the html. Maybe it will show tomorrow.

I have never been terribly competitive except for academics. But seriously Joni - little bloggers like me cannot compete with the likes of you. As much as I would love to see how many people actually read me relative to someone like you, I doubt that my little blog about headaches, slow decor, and cheap finds at the Home Depot could really keep up. Why don't you go and chase after the All the Best, Design Sponge, Desire to Inspire types who care about being known. I just blog for me and the few who care to read me!!

Hi guys, I am not sure it is all that important to have a ranking in the world of blogs. It seems to defeat the purpose of the freedom of expression in its truest sense. While I think the data may be of some importance, I feel most people have a blog/site as a means to share knowledge and creativity. When the creative aspect becomes a contest, it looses some of its appeal and definately becomes intimidating for those that are novices or perhaps just hoping to learn from the experience of others.

Hi Joni, just re-read my comments and it sounded a little snarky. Didn't mean to sound grouchy - it's just that for me, my blog is not about celebrity or popularity. I think we all love being read and we all love the validation of having readers, and having our writing and our creativity appreciated. But I have never had the time or the interest to promote my blog - what is the point for me? I am an engineer by profession and spend a huge amount of my life devoted to that career. Blogging is something I do for the true, internal me, and it is intensely personal and private, even though I do it in public. Weird, I know, but I think we all like to feel "seen" and "heard".

Anyway, the idea of comparing my blog to others holds no interest for me. I do not have a design business to promote, and although I like the idea of promoting my writing, I often find I don't have time for what I do write. And I can't hold myself out as an authority, so I don't. It is just my little world I am sharing, and not a basis I care to compete on. Now if you want to compete on engineering skills...that's another story.

Good luck and I hope you are #1. You are my #1 blogger anyway. ;)xo Terri

Well Joni you are giving everyone a thorough Texas kick in the butt & I love it!!!! Now if you get on Twitter I hear that shoots your numbers into Eddieland. Maybe Facebook. Its a Cote de Texas empire in the creation!!!Have a lovely fourth weekend!!!

JodiBeing a "non-blogger" this will be a site to check-out even more places to add to my reading list! I'm already checking out about 20 blogs weekly. KristenP.S. It seems like I've be making a lot of skirted tables lately!

yes i just signed up too but am feeling really nervous!! hahahaha if i get too addicted to it, i'm not sure how much time i'll last on there! ;) (i just figured out google analytics 3 weeks ago & visit almost daily!! hahah)xoxo

ok everyone. The #1 just wants to say goodbye - thanks for my reign for two weeks. it was fun at the top, but lonely. I'm losing and losing badly to Ronda and Layla and who knows who else! Never again will I be #1.. hahahah!!!!! I gladly pass my crown to either Ronda or Layla unless Melissa would join. Or Desire to Inspire or anyone with a huge audience. Or Eddie!!!! Eddie and Jaithan should join!!!!! they could be co-kings!!!!! Thanks blogrankings, it was fun while it lasted. Sunday = it's curtains for moi. LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Hi Joni,You sucked me in, girl. I just signed up. I just found this post today as I was searching back trying to find the post you did on your camera search. If you could e-mail me the link to that post, I would love you forever. I've got camera fever and I'm searching for a great SLR with Live view. I am not liking the Nikon SLR a friend just loaned me that doesn't have Live view. I wanted to read all about the ones you tried, again. I did obediently go sign up for Blogrankings...guess I can always run off with my tail tucked between my legs if I end up waaaaaaaaaaay down the list. :-) Or, aspire to do better! Ummmm, which will it be? Susan

I'll admit this is the first I'm hearing about the site, but I did what you said and signed up. I'm afraid to find out where I rank now! They said it'll take a day or two, so I'll have to wait and see. I hope it's not too depressing!